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Transparent Pricing

The Rockefeller University Press (RUP) pricing model establishes increases or decreases in the list prices for the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), and Journal of General Physiology (JGP) based on the number of articles that require subscription access. With a focus on transparency and sustainability, our model ensures that we are not receiving subscription revenue from articles published as Open Access.

2024 Pricing Calculation

Our model uses a three-year average of the past three calendar years as the basis for calculating prices. Adopting an average balances temporary fluctuations in article production. To establish our 2024 prices, we used the following table:

Subscription-access articles only

	2019-2021 Average	2020-2022 Average	Percent change (%)
*JCB*	198.67	176.67	-11.07%
*JEM*	186	164.33	-11.65%
*JGP*	64.67	60.67	-6.19%
Portfolio Median	449.33	401.67	-10.61%

This is the third year of using our transformative model to price our journals. The first year re-calculated our list prices to be based on a per-article price that is the same across each journal. We staggered these initial adjustments across a 5-year period to lessen the impact on our subscribers. In 2024, we are including the final 3 years of these 5-year adjustments for each journal.

Tier	2022 Price Adjustment	2022 Price Adjustment, remaining 3 years	2024 Price Change	2022 CPI	2024 Price Change, before 5% cap
*JCB*
1	0.00%	0.00%	-11.07%	6.5%	-4.57%
2	-0.26%	-0.15%	-11.07%	6.5%	-4.72%
3	3.43%	2.07%	-11.07%	6.5%	-2.50%
4	3.32%	1.98%	-11.07%	6.5%	-2.59%
*JEM*
1	27.97%	16.77%	-11.65%	6.5%	11.62%
2	23.05%	13.83%	-11.65%	6.5%	8.68%
3	15.40%	9.24%	-11.65%	6.5%	4.09%
4	15.61%	9.36%	-11.65%	6.5%	4.21%
*JGP*
1	-34.83%	-20.91%	-6.19%	6.5%	-20.60%
2	-31.07%	-18.63%	-6.19%	6.5%	-18.32%
3	-29.51%	-17.70%	-6.19%	6.5%	-17.39%
4	-29.56%	-17.73%	-6.19%	6.5%	-17.42%

Additional Pricing Factors

RUP journals are subject to an annual increase based on inflation to account for changes in the value of currency. We have adopted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the United States Bureau of Labor, using the rate from the prior calendar year. The CPI for the period from January to December 2022 is 6.5%.

We will not implement any increases above 5% in any given year. Any calculation that produces an increase above 5% will be reduced to 4.99%, and the difference will not be accounted for in subsequent years.

As of 2024, we are including review articles published Open Access as subscription articles in our pricing. Review articles were published under a paywall until 2022, when we began publishing them Open Access. Review articles do not incur an APC.

2024 Nominal Read Fee

The 2024 nominal read fee is calculated by dividing the total 2024 online list price of our portfolio by the 2020–2022 average for subscription-access articles, with the changes in publication rate and inflation reflected to produce the 2024 price. The nominal read fee provides a consistent per-article price across each of our journals and across each of our tiers:

Tier	2024 Nominal Read Fee
1	$ 14.46
2	$ 18.56
3	$ 24.00
4	$ 30.64

2024 Prices

You can see our full 2024 price list here. Upon final calculation, our 2024 prices are subject to the following adjustments, rounded to the nearest 5:

Online Tier	2023 Price	2024 Price Change, with 5% cap	2024 Price Difference	2024 Price
JCB
1	$2,845	-4.57%	($130.00)	$2,715
2	$3,610	-4.72%	($170.00)	$3440
3	$4,460	-2.50%	($110.00)	$4,350
4	$5,700	-2.59%	($150.00)	$5,550
JEM
1	$2,015	4.99%	$100.00	$2,115
2	$2,655	4.99%	$130.00	$2,785
3	$3,590	4.09%	$145.00	$3,735
4	$4,575	4.21%	$195.00	$4,770
JGP
1	$1,230	-20.60%	($255.00)	$975
2	$1,500	-18.32%	($275.00)	$1,225
3	$1,870	-17.39%	($325.00)	$1,545
4	$2,390	-17.42%	($415.00)	$1,975
Portfolio
1	$6,090	-4.68%	($285.00)	$5,805
2	$7,765	-4.06%	($315.00)	$7,450
3	$9,920	-2.92%	($290.00)	$9,630
4	$12,665	-2.92%	($370.00)	$12,295

Our Subscribers

Any subscribers who are having difficulty maintaining their current subscriptions should get in touch with us as soon as possible. Please contact subs@rockefeller.edu if you would like to discuss your pricing for the 2024 renewal cycle.

We strongly welcome, encourage, and appreciate any feedback on our transparent pricing policy. If you would like to let us know how our policy affects your library, please email Miguel Peralta, Institutional Sales Manager, at mperalta@rockefeller.edu. We reserve the right to modify our pricing model in subsequent years.

Basis for Model

RUP has adopted the model proposed by Tasha Mellins-Cohen in Price transparency: Let's make it simple,* which proposes that publishers adopt a nominal read fee that calculates price per article for hybrid journals. The model provides librarians with an additional metric, the nominal read fee, that can be used to evaluate the costs of their subscriptions. We encourage other publishers to join us in publicizing the nominal read fees of their journals. We thank Tasha Mellins-Cohen for consulting with us on its application for RUP journals.

*Mellins-Cohen, Tasha. 2021. "Price Transparency: Let's Make It Simple". Insights. 34 (1): 17. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.551.